Фбгоу впо мати российский государственный

WHAT IS SMALL TALK?


Your company sends you to an important international conference in the USA. While you are traveling from the hotel to the conference centre you meet somebody who works for the Spanish division of your company for the first time. The conversation that you have will probably be what we call small talk.

What do people make small talk about?

There are certain safe topics that people usually make small talk about. The weather is probably the number one thing. Sometimes even friends and family members discuss the weather when they meet or start a conversation. Sports news is a common topic, especially if a local team is doing extremely well or badly. If there is something that you and the other people have in common, that may also be acceptable to talk about. For example, if the bus is full and there are no seats
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available you might talk about reasons why.
There are also some subjects that are not considered acceptable when making small talk. Personal information such as salaries or divorce are not talked about between people who do not know each other well. Negative comments about another person not involved in the conversation are also not acceptable; when you do not know a person well you cannot be sure who their friends are. It is also not wise to continue talking about an issue that the other person does not seem comfortably with or interested in. Lastly, avoid one word answers and ask questions to show that you want to keep the conversation going.
II. Many people say that the worst part of a business meeting is lunch!
When you don’t know your business partner very well, it can be difficult to find “safe” non-business topics.
Look at the topics below and discuss which ones are safe and which might cause offence. You may add other examples of safe topics or topics that might
cause offence.


Personal topics: General interest topics:
Family Films
Marriage or relationships Sport
Hobbies or special interests Travel
Religious beliefs Art and architecture


The other person’s country: Topics people have strong opinions about
Climate World affairs
Political situation Social problems
Food/customs Environment
History Money
III. Look at the tips for small talk below. Do you think the tips are useful?


Tips for small Technique 1. Always wear a Whatzit.
talk.
Some people have developed a clever technique that
works well for social or corporate networking purposes.
The technique requires no special skill on your part, only
the courage to wear a Whatzit.
A Whatzit is anything unusual – a unique brooch, an
interesting scarf, a strange tie, a funny hat. A Whatzit
is any object that draws people’s attention so that they
walk over and ask: “Uh, what’s that?”
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Technique 2. Whoozat?

What to do when you haven’t got a Whatzit…

Like a politician, go to the host and say, “That
man/woman over there looks interesting. Who
is he/she?“ Then ask for an introduction.
or
Find out about the stranger’s job, interests or
hobbies. The host might say, “Oh, that’s Joe
Smith. I’m not sure what his job is, but I know
he loves to ski.” Aha, you’ve just been given
the icebreaker you need. Now walk over to Joe
Smith and say, ”Hi, you’re Joe Smith, aren’t
you? Susan was just telling me what a great
skier you are. Where do you ski?”

Technique 3.

Boston-based company have designed a conference badge with a

difference: delegates enter information about their jobs and interests.
When they meet another person with similar hobbies, the interactive
Badges introduce the wearers and tell them what they have in common.
The aim is to make networking easier by using the badge to help start conversation.